Paying or Appealing a Parking or Traffic Tickets

The Reading Police Department can now accept online payment for parking citations. This can be done through the following service: www.kelleyryan.com. Accepted forms of payments are Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and ECheck. There is a 3.2% convenience fee added to the ticket with a minimum of $3.00 for credit cards. There is a $.50 convenience fee when using an ECheck. This must be done online using the above application. Credit cards can not be taken at the Police Station. Payment by checks and cash are still accepted at the Records Office when paid within 21 days. Tickets paid after 21 days at the Records Office is cash only.

Appealing a Parking Ticket

In order to appeal a parking ticket you must appear in person in front of a hearing officer at the Reading Police Department. The hearing officer will assess the violation, photographs taken by the Parking Enforcement Officer, other evidence, and any possible mitigating circumstance that may exist. Parking ticket appeals are held the 2nd Wednesday of every month between the hours of 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM. Hearings are conducted in the 2nd Floor Conference Room of the Police Station on a first come, first serve basis. For more information, please contact the Chief's Executive Assistant, Vicki Cummings at (781) 942-6769.

Paying a Traffic Ticket

The Registry of Motor Vehicles now accepts online payment and processing for non-criminal traffic citations. To access the RMV payment system, click here. Read the advisory and instructions on the RMV site for some important information. Be advised, all criminal traffic citations from Reading PD are handled by the Woburn District Court at (781) 935-4000.

Appealing a Traffic Ticket

To appeal a non-criminal traffic citation, check Box 2 on the back of the citation, which reads: "I deny that I am responsible for the civil infraction(s) charged on this citation, and I request a civil hearing before a court magistrate. I understand that I must pay a $25 court filing fee before the court will notify me by mail of the date and time of the hearing and I must appear in court on the scheduled date and time. Place your $25 court filing fee and this citation in the envelope provided and mail it to the address below. Check off the hearing request/filing fee box on the front of the envelope."

To request a court hearing by mail, sign and date the back of the citation where indicated in the Box 2 area. Keep a copy of the citation for your records. Check off the hearing request/filing fee box on the front of the pre-addressed envelope. Write your name and address in the upper left hand corner of the envelope. Enclose the citation and a check or money order for $25 payable to MassDOT to pay the court filing fee. Be sure to write the citation number and your driver's license number on your payment. Do not mail cash. Apply the correct postage to the mailing envelope. Mail to the address shown on the back of the citation. The envelope that comes with the citation should only be used to mail Civil Citations. Do not use this envelope for Criminal Citations.

Use the pre-addressed envelope provided with the citation to mail a court filing fee payment and to request a hearing for a Civil (non-criminal) Citation:

Citation Processing Center P.O. Box 55890 Boston, MA 02205-5890

Note, all requests for a clerk magistrate hearing are subject to a $25 court filing fee. If you fail to send in the fee with your hearing request or if there is a problem processing your check or money order, the RMV will mail you a letter. The letter will confirm your request for a hearing and will contain the instructions for paying the fee. There are two ways to pay the court filing fee:

If you fail to pay the court filing fee by the date specified in the letter, you will have to pay your citation in full including late and release fees, lose your right to a court hearing, and your license / right to operate or registration will be suspended / revoked. Once your request has been processed and your court filing fee has been paid, the court will schedule your hearing and will notify you of the date and time of your hearing by mail.